Once Upon a Halloween
by AThousandTales
Summary: As if Vampires and Werewolfs weren't bad enough on Halloween...add in Gaara in tights and Sakura masterminding everyone's humiliation with the help from a little black hat and you have some real horrors on your hands. Authors' Note: All characters are involved in this story along with 4 OC's whose descriptions you can read on our profile if you would like.
1. In Which a Hat Tells the Future

**Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto, characters from that brand belong to Masashi Kishimoto and we would never hope to claim them.**

 **Disclaimer: We do not own Disney, characters from that brand belong to Disney and we could only hope to one day live up to be able to create characters like that.**

 **Claimer: We do take credit for certain characters within the story. We have created four OC's for your reading pleasure that we have been designing and working with for quite some time. We hope you love them just as much as we do. They are in no way based off of real people and are truly just characters in a story. If you would like to check them out before reading this story feel free to check out their profiles under our "Regularly used OC's" descriptions on our page.**

 **…**

If you were to look into the house on the corner in the small village of Konahagakure, in which our story takes place at this moment, you would see a large group of people sitting in a circle surrounding a top hat. You might first ask what they might be doing. Then you would hear the words… "This is ridiculous."

Followed shortly by, "Oh come on Shiori this will be fun."

You see, Halloween was quickly approaching and the young adults were planning a party…a themed party. The theme being something that some of them just were not taking a liking to.

"It's so childish. I just don't understand the point of having a Disney themed party at our age," Neji commented.

TenTen, his girlfriend of six months, just rolled her eyes. Her boyfriend had a stick up his ass so far she had yet to see the end of it. "Because shnuckums, Disney is the magic that keeps all of our hearts beating."

"Okay. Fine. But why pull names of characters from a hat?"

Kana, a small pixie of a girl, let out a giggle from the corner. "Because otherwise everyone might show up dressed as the same person! Silly Neji, I thought you were smart." Shiori, Kana's girlfriend who looked to be the complete opposite of the colorful, happy, smiling girl, just rubbed the bridge of her nose. She didn't completely understand the concept of all this herself, but found it best not to argue knowing she would just lose anyways.

On the opposite side of this circle, a bouncing motion can be seen. A rather short girl with pink tresses is grinning from ear to ear, so excited she can hardly stand the suspense. "Are we gonna do this or what?" She says a little impatiently.

"Sakura," the tall man next to her says, "I don't understand. Why are you so excited about this? I didn't even know you liked Disney."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Itachi, it isn't the theme she's excited about. It's the holiday. Sakura is a sucker for Halloween."

"She really has a tendency to go all out with things," Naruto added, laying his head on Sasuke's shoulder.

Itachi looked down at his little bouncing girlfriend and shook his head fondly. "Then I suppose there's no getting out of this?"

Sakura stopped bouncing and turned towards him with an almost scary look in her eye, "Why would you want to?" His eyes widened, he knew that look. He knew what his answer should be if he wanted any resemblance of peace for the next month.

"I wouldn't, dear."

"Good," she smiled and looked around the circle at the people she called friends. Some of them obviously happier about the situation than others. With a wicked gleam in her eye she then asked, "So, who's the first victim?"

With a confident, though some would think foolish, grin, Naruto leaves his spot beside his boyfriend and approaches the deceivingly innocent looking hat. There is no hesitance to be found in his movements as he reaches in and grasps a small slip of paper. His tanned cheeks rapidly lose their color as his large grin immediately falters upon the reveal of his character. "WHAT?! NO!"

Curious about the previously confident boy's reaction, the rest of the not-so-willing participants gather around. Upon looking at the slip, their eyes widen. If Naruto had gotten _this_ from the very first draw…what chance did they have?

Sasuke, though worried for his own dignity, smirked. "You know; I've never seen you in green before. It could be a good color for you." He snickered at the look of affronted rage on his boyfriend's face.

"If you think this is so funny maybe you should try your luck with that….that accursed thing," Naruto said, a smirk graced his face as his boyfriend's smile fell.

"No thank you."

"You're gonna have to sooner or later. May as well be now."

Sasuke sighed. He knew the blonde was right, no matter how hard he wished, on any kind of star, otherwise. So taking a deep breath he reached for the hat, his hand shaking, and pulled a little slip of paper from it. He could feel his heart pumping much harder than it should be, especially in this situation where there was nothing he should really be afraid of. And yet, as he opened the paper and read the name he looked as if he might fall over right then and there.

The others looked at him, worried. "Sasuke? A-are you okay?" Neji was the first to say anything.

Sasuke just handed him the paper and walked back to his spot on the floor, still in shock, still wishing he had never agreed to any of this.

The others looked and just laughed. Neji handed Naruto Sasuke's piece of paper. "It really isn't that bad."

Sasuke looked up. "I'm practically a fish."

Naruto snickered, "You know, I've never seen you in scales before." It earned him a hefty glare from the young Uchiha, but ultimately he was happy that this wasn't going to be bad for just him.

Shiori, as bad as she felt for the Uchiha, chuckled at his misfortune. She made the mistake however of turning to her girlfriend, more than enthusiastic about all of this, who was grinning at her widely. Knowing just by looking at her what the girl wanted she stood up and sighed heavily.

As she approached the thing that would decide her future Halloween plans she couldn't help but ask herself why she went along with these crazy plans. How did she keep letting Kana talk her into all this? She shook her head, deciding to save those questions for later, and bit the inside of her cheek as she reached in and ruffled her hand through the tiny pieces of paper a moment before finally pulling one out and reading it.

A small smile spread across her lips then settled into a smirk.

"What is it?" Neji asked, he was hoping that not everyone would have as bad of luck as Sasuke and Naruto. Judging by the look on Shiori's face he could say she looked at least a little happy about her character.

She held out the piece of paper to him. "Something truly befitting of my personality."

Neji smiled, laughed and looked at the hat. Maybe there was good luck in there after all. He reached down and pulled his own piece of paper, read it, and cocked his head. "I don't think I've been watching the same movies all of you guys have. I have absolutely no idea who this is."

Shiori took the paper from him and read it, she'd seen them all from Bambi to Frozen, for which Kana said she would "thank her for later." Laughing, she handed the paper back to him. "Someone befitting your personality. He's a villain."

Neji looked thoughtful. "I could pull off evil."

TenTen gazed up at him. "You? Evil? You wouldn't hurt a fly without good reason Neji."

"Think you can do better?"

"If I get a villain, I know I can. I was born for it." She stuck her tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes. TenTen was one of those who believed without a doubt that she could do anything she set her mind to, and while she had not proved otherwise he just knew that the day would come that she wouldn't be so certain of her own abilities.

He watched as she bent her lithe form over the hat, golden eyes closed tightly, pink lips between her teeth. She was hoping she would get something good. Something dramatic. She let out a held breath and pulled a paper from the hat. In that moment, she realized she was too scared to read it and froze.

Jaden, her older brother that she loved ever so dearly, put his hand on her shoulder. TenTen?

She looked up at him then closed her eyes and shoved the paper into his hands. "I can't read it. You do it."

Jaden gave a soft chuckle and unfolded the parchment in his hands. "Well uh, you both certainly share a flare for drama and acrobatics."

TenTen opened her eyes slowly and raised a confused brow. "So it isn't bad?" Jaden just shook his head and handed her the paper back.

Before it reached her hands Neji snatched it up, read it, and smiled at her mischievously. "Oh. I cannot wait to see this." TenTen growled, her jaw locked as she snatched the paper away from the man whose eyes alone were mocking her.

"You may never get the chance to see it if you don't lose that shit eating grin." He looked away from her as if he had no idea what she was talking about, then back. His grin replaced with a subtle smirk.

She took a deep breath and looked down at the name. "Anybody want to trade?"

Naruto looked up excitedly, "We can do that?!"

Sakura looked at him and rolled her eyes. "No. Half the fun is taking what you get and making the best of it." The blonde looked down, pouting.

Itachi looked at the girl beside him. "Well if that's true then why don't you go next?"

Sakura gave a small laugh, "I feel like you're challenging me, but honestly I'll be happy with anything. I'm really not picky because I know that no matter what I can still create an awesome costume." She stood and smoothed out her flowy green dress before walking over to the hat and without hesitation pulled out her paper. She didn't even open it before returning to her spot, smiling, and sat down.

"And?"

"And I'll open mine when you open yours." This comment alone made Itachi realize he hadn't picked a character yet and his eyes widened. With that thought he looked at the hat and sighed. 'I could just not do it' he thought to himself. 'If I don't pick, nothing bad can happen.'

As if sensing her boyfriend's treacherous thoughts, Sakura slowly turned her head to face him. Her pleased smile gained a wicked edge, the barest hint of teeth gleaming malevolently from behind her lips. "Itachi-kun," her voice had become sickly sweet as she eyed her paler than usual boyfriend, "…you're not thinking of backing out…are you?"

'It's so creepy,' he thought. She had a habit of reading him like an open book, though he liked to believe he was more of a diary of some sort. A diary with six locks in a voice activated vault hidden deep underground. He smiled to himself before realizing she was still looking at him, awaiting an answer. It made him uncomfortable enough to make his way to the hat that, no doubt, would ruin any kind of masculinity he had left.

With a silent farewell to his pride, he quickly snatched a paper from the top. He took a moment to steel his nerve before quickly opening the, no doubt demeaning, white slip. Upon reading what was written, he quickly crumbled the paper in his fist before anyone else could see it. Somehow meeting his girlfriend's gaze head on, he squared his shoulders and spoke the words that could potentially be his last, "I refuse."

"Then I simply refuse to stay with you until after Halloween," she replied and looked over at Ino. "Ino-Pig, I'm calling in that favor. I need a place to stay for a while."

Itachi's eyes widened, his jaw dropped to the floor. "You aren't serious."

Kiba clapped him on the back, "are you really brave enough to test that theory?"

He wasn't. Itachi looked at the floor then back up at his girlfriend and sighed. 'Off with my head,' he thought silently and trudged back towards her.

"Never mind Ino. It looks like we've reached an agreement." Sakura patted Itachi's shoulder, a gleeful smirk on her face. Inwardly, she felt a little guilty for using her powers of knowing him more than he would like against him, however, she was happy she did know things that she could use against him. She scratched his head, knowing it would get him to calm down some then tucked a hand under his chin and lifted his face to look at her. "How bad could it be?"

His eyes flicked down to his hand where he still held the piece of paper. "Bad." He put the small white square in her hand. Smiling, she opened it up and read it.

Her face fell. "Oh. This is bad." She handed him back the paper and looked at him thoughtfully. "We'll make the best of it. I'll help you, promise."

Temari shook her head and scoffed, "Honestly, can you guys be any more dramatic? You'll only have to dress up for one night. It's not like it's going to kill you."

Sakura smirked, "Well then, Temari, show these boys how it's done. Time to pick your poison." She grinned at the blonde girl in a manner so close to the Cheshire cat that the room at large half expected her to suddenly transition from solid pink to striped purple.

Temari raised a brow at her friend's blatant challenge before smoothly standing up, dislodging her sleeping boyfriend from her shoulder and causing him to hit the floor with a loud thud. Disregarding any potential brain damage that she may have caused him, Temari headed for the hat and smoothly grabbed a slip. With a cocky smirk, she slid open the paper and glanced down, certain that whatever was listed would be no problem for her to pull off.

She was wrong.

"What the-? Seriously? We're from completely different places! I _don't_ do cold!"

Shikamaru sat up rubbing his head. "What happened?"

Temari groaned, simply unhappy with her draw. "It's your turn," she grumbled and slid the hat towards him, knowing how much he hated moving.

He shrugged and pulled the hat closer. Yawning he reached in and pulled a slip out. He really just wasn't concerned about any of this, as Temari had put it, it was just one night. He'd done worse, more embarrassing things than attend a Halloween party. He opened up the paper and read the name, smiling he leaned back until he lay back on the ground, his head now in his returned girlfriend's lap. "I don't even have to dress up."

Naruto raised a brow. "What do you mean? There was an option in there to not have to do this?"

Itachi huffed under his breath, "lucky."

Shikamaru simply handed them the paper. "No, nothing like that. It's just that, I am this character. I do this every day." He yawned again and a smile settled on his face.

"You are anything but beautiful Shikamaru, especially when you sleep," Temari retorted. She knew the truth, when Shikamaru slept, especially at night, he had a tendency to drool, talk, and kick. He was such a bad bed partner that she often made her way to the couch before the night was over.

Before Shikamaru could make his retort, Ino grinned and offered her own two cents, "She's not wrong, Shikamaru. I remember the sleepovers we used to have as kids. You were terrible."

Shikamaru just waved her off. It was too troublesome to argue with the two blonde women in his life. The time it would take could be put to better use for other activities, such as sleeping.

So, in an act of lazy retaliation, Shikamaru tossed Ino the hat. One piece of paper was forced out of the hat by the motion and floated to the ground by Ino's foot. With a shrug, she picked up the errant slip and casually opened it up. She grinned widely down at her chosen character and threw Shikamaru a grin. "Thanks Shikamaru! You're the best."

Kiba glanced over her shoulder and read the printed name. He raised a skeptical brow, "You're pleased with this? Really? Why?" He figured his girlfriend would prefer a princess instead of…this.

Ino gave him a devious look. "Can you imagine what I can do with this? The possibilities are endless! I hit the jackpot on this one!"

"If you say so." Kiba wasn't convinced by her cheery disposition that there was such thing as a jackpot in this situation, but if having somebody else pull your character from the black hole of a hat got you close he was willing to take his chances with that. "Toss me one will you? I just want to get this over with." Ino grinned and put her hand in the hat, when she took it out the fortune was nestled between her pointer and middle fingers. She sauntered over, kissed his cheek and handed it to him.

Grinning as if he himself had just won the lottery he looked at her as she pulled away, then he looked down at the thin, white material in his hand. When he opened it up and saw the name on it he groaned. Ino raised a brow and took the paper back. She grinned and handed it back to him."You're gonna be the cat's meow." She laughed maniacally and returned to her spot on the floor.

Gaara came up behind him and read the name himself, "Or just a cat." Kiba crumpled the paper and growled, angered by the luck, and irony, of it all. He picked the hat up and shoved it in Gaara's direction.

"I hope you get something embarrassing." Kiba scowled. Gaara simply smirked at the angered male, already coming up with various feline nicknames for the unfortunate boy. He was positive that whatever name he drew could not possibly be as bad as the dog boy's.

Smirk firmly in place, Gaara swiftly grabbed a strip of paper. He opened the slip, read the name, and promptly put the decidedly evil piece of paper in his mouth. He glared at everyone's opened mouthed expressions of shock, daring them silently to make a fuss over his actions. "I'm not doing it." The group could just see the newly made see through paper rested against his tongue. They all silently contemplated how bad it could have been for the normally stiff man to do away with the paper in such an immature manner.

Hinata, not at all scared by her red haired boyfriend's evil glare, walked over to him. "It can't have been that bad, Gaara. Who was it?" At his continued glare, she cocked her head and gave him a look. A look that threatened Gaara's peace and happiness for the next few weeks if he kept this up. A mild-mannered woman though she may be, she was not afraid to keep her boyfriend in check when the situation called for it.

Grumbling, Gaara leaned down and whispered the dreaded name in her ear. He swore he would resurrect the person who decided it was a good idea to wear costumes on this blasted holiday just so he could kill them again. Or perhaps he'd go after that Disney guy instead. He had just as much a hand in his current doom.

Unaware of his murderous thoughts against the dead, Hinata smiled as an image of her boyfriend dressed up in such a way entered her mind. Though it would most definitely look strange on him, there was one aspect that she just couldn't wait to see. "I think you'll look great in tights, Gaara. It'll certainly show off some of your...assets."

"Hinata," he all but whined as he blushed.

Neji cleared his throat and sent a daggering glare at the couple. "And just what would you know about any of his assets, Hinata?"

Hinata's eyes widened as the panic set in, she had been dating the redhead for a good two years and had been denying the fact that she and the Sabaku had done anything remotely sexual in the time period. Now that the truth was coming out her cousin was sure to kill at least one of them. She just grinned at him nervously and pulled the hat away from Gaara. "Oh look. It's my turn."

Neji popped his knuckles and stared straight at Gaara. He always knew that he would corrupt her. "We'll talk about this later." This statement is what caused Gaara to panic, but rather than show it he just took a step back from his girlfriend and looked away.

When he looked back she was looking at a piece of paper in her hands, stunned. "I can't. There's too much...yellow. It isn't my color." She tossed the paper back towards the hat, hoping it would land back with the others. She never was good at sports.

Kana and Jaden both leaned in to pick up the piece of paper, but Kana got to it first. "Hina, she has more than one outfit. Not all of them are yellow." She showed the paper to Jaden.

"You look good in blue. I'm sure you can make it work," he smiled and handed the paper back to her.

Sakura sighed, "What I don't understand is why everyone keeps trying to back out."

They all looked at her. Naruto put a hand on her shoulder, "You might try to back out too, if you even knew what yours was. You never even looked at it."

"Yeah," agreed Itachi, "what happened to 'I'll open mine when you open yours.' Huh?"

Sakura shrugged, "Like I said. I'm not concerned about it, but if you guys are," she held up the paper to them, "please. Knock yourselves out."

Itachi snatched the paper from the pinkette and opened it up, he was almost hoping it was something really bad that he knew she couldn't resist hating. Then he saw what it was and glared at it. "You're horrible."

"Thank you?"

Kana smiled at the couple then looked at her own significant other who was looking at a sleeping Shikamaru as though she was contemplating taking a sharpie to his face. Jaden bent down and grabbed the hat then offered it up to her. "Kana? You want to go next?" This pulled Kana out of her thoughts and made Shiori pay attention to what was happening in the now deformed circle.

"Of course!" She was excited. This was partially her idea in the first place, and like Sakura she wasn't overly worried about what character's name she pulled from the old hat. And so, with a skip in her step, she made her way to the hat. With a flourish, she withdrew one paper to rule them all - or at least her costume - and giddily opened her result.

Just like so many before her, Kana lost her cool upon reading the printed name. However, unlike those before her, it was not because she disagreed with her draw. In fact, she was so happy with her drawn character that she released an inhuman sound - a mix between a squeak, a gasp, and a cheer - and threw her arms in the air in victory. Immediately, the ire of those unhappy with their costume was focused on the happy girl. What character could be good enough to receive that reaction anyway?

Shiori, curious to see the result herself and wanting to prevent any jealous attacks against her excitable girlfriend, stepped up behind her to read over Kana's shoulder. She chuckled and patted the shorter girls head. "It suits you."

Temporarily distracted from her celebration, Kana stared up at her with a pleased look. "You think so?"

"Of course," Shiori nodded, "you're as mad as they come, after all."

"I disagree." It was Jaden. He had already reached in and grabbed his own name out and was holding it up, grinning at it. He held it up for Kana and Shiori to see. He received another inhuman noise from Kana.

"This is going to be absolutely wonderful!"

Shiori groaned, as if her girlfriend and Jaden weren't inseparable enough. Now they had costumes that complimented each other and were almost guaranteed to spend every moment possible together making costumes that were maddeningly perfect down to every last detail. She decided then it was probably best just to pack up and move in with Jaden's boyfriend for the month.

The front door swung open as a tall brunette with gleaming, albeit extremely tired looking, blue eyes walked through the door. Speak of the devil. "Hey guys. Sorry I'm late."

"It's okay Jesse," Shiori assured him.

Jaden rushed up and nearly tackled him to the ground laughing happily.

"What did I miss?" Jesse held his boyfriend at the waist and kissed his head before looking back at Shiori.

"Nothing," she said. "We were just taking our chances with the great hat of doom, picking out our Halloween costumes. Our lovely lovers chose characters that are just as inseparable as they are," she grimaced.

"Moving in until the party?"

"Good chance."

Jaden and Kana looked at the two shocked at the conversation. Is this really what they thought?

Jaden pouted, but decided to let it go for the moment. Instead he decided the best course of action was to pull his boyfriend by the wrist towards the hat that was now just sitting in the middle of the floor. "You're the last one, babe."

Jesse looked down at it and picked it up. "Well then, I suppose there's no time to waste." He reached in and pulled out the smallest slip of white paper all night and read the name. He chuckled.

He didn't seem upset, but he didn't seem quite as happy as Kana or Jaden either, though it was unlikely anyone could be. Shiori slipped the paper from his hands and looked it over herself. A smirk hit her bright red lips instantly. "I always knew you were a hot head."


	2. In Which Peter Pan Gets his Tights

It had been bothering him for days, ever since they had left Kana and Shiori's from picking their costumes. Neji growled softly as he remembered that he needed to talk to his little cousin and her boyfriend about their…. activities. He wanted to know why she had lied, though he had supposed it would have something to do with the fact that he often had a habit of running her boyfriends off.

He sighed. He just wanted to protect her. She was, after all, more like a sister to him than a cousin. Nobody would ever be good enough for her.

He took another sip of his coffee and picked up the paper, ignoring his girlfriend who was coming in through the open window like she did almost every morning, well at least every morning that she wasn't there already. "Neji!" He put the paper down and looked at her so as to acknowledge her presence. Anyone who knew him knew he was a man of few words, it was just how he was, it didn't mean he didn't care.

She smiled and walked over to him and kissed his cheek as he put his cup back to his lips. "Did you watch the movie like you were supposed to?"

"I didn't have time to, not yet. Between work, and dealing with Uncle Hiashi things have been a mess."

TenTen just gave him a look, mostly sympathetic, she knew how his uncle was, but also kind of disappointed, she really wanted to get costume shopping over with. "Well do you have time now?"

"Now? It's the middle of the day."

"So? Some of the best things come in the middle of the day….me for instance," she teased, poking his nose to which he made a face. She just looked at him and he sighed, "fine. I'll go get the disc." He kissed her and made his way so his small living room in his apartment, she smiled and happily followed.

….

Across town, far away, but not so far away, Gaara was staring his down his girlfriend who was holding up a pair of bright green tights. "No. There has to be a better option. Anything...just not...those." His eyes narrowed into a glare that was almost unnecessary. The tights hadn't even done anything to him yet.

Hinata frowned, she knew he was upset. He used to love Peter Pan, but after this? She had a feeling he would never look at the story the same ever again. She'd let him just walk away and not do it, but knew that in doing so she ran the risk of having Sakura ending her very existence. The thought alone was enough to force her to make him wear anything she had to.

"Gaara," she started in. She wasn't really sure what she was going to say to reason with him, but she knew she had to do something. She looked up in desperation, hoping beyond all hopes that an idea would come to her, but nothing did. She would just have to wing it. "Is there nothing I can do to make this better? Nothing I can do to make you go?"

Gaara's expression softened only slightly at seeing how desperate she was to get him into those tights. "I'm gonna look like a miniature version of the Jolly Green Giant. Everyone is going to laugh."

"No they won't. Gaara, you'll look fine. Honestly."

He just pouted. She gave him a sad little half smile and tossed the green garment in her hands aside. She watched as they landed near her sewing kit. She walked over, rustled through it a moment, and returned after only a moment or two. "Would you do it for a kiss?" She held out her hand in the thumbs up position, a tiny blue thimble resting on the tip of the appendage.

It broke his look of loathing and the hostile feelings he had previously been holding for the tiny green tights she had earlier produced. He smiled softly, a loving look in his eyes. "It might help more if you gave me a real kiss."

Honestly? What could she do other than give a soft laugh and comply with his request.

….

Neji sat on his couch watching the movie, taking notes on his character. He noted the green and purple color scheme and the way the Voodoo Doctor carried himself. The story line wasn't his favorite, nothing like the original fairy tale at all, though, come to think of it, he couldn't think of a Disney movie that was like it's original. TenTen had left during the big transformation scene, where the prince turned into a frog, to go dig through his attic for costume pieces and props. The movie had just ended and he heard a loud thud down the hall.

His eyes widened at the noise and he called out, "TenTen? Is everything alright?" He stood and began to walk to where she would be.

In the middle of the hall, under the ladder, sorting through a rather large box of fabrics TenTen sat, covered head to toe in dust. She looked up at him and grinned, "Neji! You have everything up there! It's like… Ariel's treasure cove!"

He simply chuckled at his girlfriend and bent down next to her and picked up a piece of the fabric in the box, it was soft between his fingers. "This is nice," he told her. "But how are you going to use any of this? It's just a bunch of random fabric." She pulled the silky purple fabric from his hands and held it up to his chest.

She giggled softly and ran one of her hands across his cheek. "Well, if you don't mind my taking the big box of random fabric, I might be tempted to dig out all my old sewing stuff that I haven't touched in years. This silk would make a great vest for you."

Neji raised a brow. For all the years he'd know her, and he'd known her for quite a few years, he had never known TenTen to partake in such domestic activities such as sewing. The girl was not housewife material and he was okay with that. He was okay with the fact that she was unsure just how a coffee pot should be cleaned, or how to hold a baby, or….even how to boil water without burning it or how to chop a vegetable without cutting herself. He thought it was cute and was happy to be there and be the one to do those things while she handled other things that he was unsure of how to do such as changing the oil in his car, or building a new bookshelf when he needed one.

"I wasn't aware you knew how."

She dropped the fabric and stood up. "I'm more than just a pretty face you know."

He nodded. "I know. I'm not dating you for your face anyways."

TenTen looked taken back, she didn't really have much else to offer in the way of being a wife. She was almost certain the only reason he was dating her was because of her looks. "Then why…"

He smiled and took her hand. He looked down, a certain thoughtfulness in his eyes, and his smile fell. "Because you make me feel human, and not like some monster who should be locked up somewhere. Damned for eternity to be alone." He looked up at her, a glint of happiness in his eyes. She'd known he'd had his problems with depression, and even anxiety, but she never knew they extended so far as to feeling like that.

"Guess I really do have more in common with Esmerelda than I thought."

….

She had finally convinced him to try the awful things on, just to see how they fit. She just wanted to know that they were the right size so she could help him find the rest of his costume. It had been a full two hours and she couldn't get him to come out of her room, no matter how hard she begged or pleaded. "Gaara! You have to let me see them!"

"You don't want to. Trust me. You've seen most of it already anyways."

It sent a blush straight to the young Hyugga's cheeks and she was just thankful they were alone. It was more than enough already that she had outed herself as any kind of sexual being to her cousin without adding to the embarrassment.

"Please Gaara? I promise I won't laugh. And the sooner you show me, the sooner you can help me with my costume." Hinata would not give up without a fight. "And I won't even sing _Men in Tights_ in front of you."

Gaara scoffed, "I'm not Robin Hood or his band of misfits, Hinata." The girl smiled, pleased her boyfriend caught the reference. "Besides, what on earth would you need help with? You don't have your costume yet."

Hinata smiled. "That's because I'm making my own costume, Gaara. It's better to make your own than rely on flimsy, store bought ones. The only thing is that I'll need to get my measurements just right. That's where you'd come in."

Gaara's ears perked up just slightly, and he had to clear his throat before he spoke. "Your measurements? I don't know anything about taking measurements."

Hinata smirked, she knew she had, at the very least, caught his interest. "Don't worry, I'll do you first and show you what you're doing."

Gaara's face turned about as red as his hair, suddenly he somehow knew she wasn't just talking about sewing anymore. He unlocked the door and opened it just a crack and Hinata pushed it open the rest of the way. When she finally got in the room she simply stood there looking at him, a small smile gracing her features. "See that wasn't so-," her eyes widened, "hard."

She finally understood why he didn't want her to see. She also knew that she couldn't let anyone else see it, those tights left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Fire spread up to her cheeks. He smirked.

….

Across town Neji could feel a burning rage building deep inside his gut again and he just couldn't pinpoint why.


End file.
